Power of Ideas 2012: Budding entrepreneurs lap up wisdom on ideas

NEW DELHI: Young entrepreneurs looking to give wings to their ideas had plenty to look up to at the Delhi leg of The Economic Times Power of Ideas meet. A packed audience of more than 400, comprising budding entrepreneurs, was all ears to words of wisdom on ideas, entrepreneurship and what it takes to transform power point presentations into successful business ventures.

"There are certain things you must have-domain expertise, passion and boundless energy, and finally commitment-to transform an idea into a successful venture," said Rajan Anandan, managing director, Google India. He would know well, having funded and mentored more than 20 startups, including reachaccountant.com (tax filing site for SMEs), webengage.com (online survey and feedback tool) and exclusively.in (an e-commerce site).

The other expert of the day, BPO guru and CMD of Quatrro Global Services, Raman Roy emphasised on understanding the meaning of 'idea' before embarking on an entrepreneurial journey. He said, "An IDEA refers to Intensity, Desire, Engagement and Action. Someone who is a navigator of what idea stands for is an entrepreneur."

Despite knowing some of the fundamentals, lot of budding entrepreneurs come up with 'me too' kind of ideas, like building another Infosys or yet another e-commerce site.

"Think of how the concept can be different. It should address a consumer pain and be scalable. I often come across ideas that are great, but have limited market potential. This won't get you far," said Anandan. To overcome the hurdles Anandan suggested building a prototype before a full-scale rollout, and if it's an internet-based idea, at least get a few hundred or thousand people to validate it. "Internet related ideas are easier to try out and test-you can get users online. Do that to see what the consumers have to say about it before trying to build scale," Anandan added.

The key ingredients for a successful venture, according to Roy, include specialisation, capital, team, innovative business model and technology. "This century has already seen path breaking new ideas scale to great heights - like Facebook, PayPal, Google-and there's plenty of room for more," added Roy.